You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
As Microsoft acquires Nokia’s phone business, a shuffle of industry players is happening – starting with Marko Ahtisaari, Nokia’s soon-to-be-former executive VP of design. An announcement of this departure was made just as the Nokia-Microsoft deal was made, with added note that Ahtisaari will be replaced by Stefan Pannenbecker – a man who up until […]
With the vision that Nokia has on its side as its devices arm is purchased by Microsoft, its no wonder that the first priority of many early adopter device and technology fans are pouring over the smartphone makers’ conceptual works. What’s appeared today is a product that you may – if you’re a big Nokia […]
Out of the blue, Microsoft announced today it has bought Nokia’s core phone business for $7.17 billion. The announcement got everyone wondering what it means for future Nokia devices. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said that they’ll continue to license Windows Phone to other OEMs, and that they’ll probably have shorter names for future devices. The company’s operations system group’s Vice President, Terry Myerson, hinted during a conference call today that the Xbox’s famed Kinect technology might be integrated into future Windows Phone devices.
Speaking with analysts and journalists, Myerson said that “In the area of imaging, the Nokia Lumia 1020 has no equal. We are excited to bring this together with our Kinect camera technology to delight our customers.” It is unclear right now when Microsoft intends on integrating this technology and exactly what it will be capable of doing on a mobile device since Myerson didn’t give any more details during the conference call. Previous rumors suggest that the technology might be used to enable users to control their devices through gestures and voice. It may also allow for deeper integration with Xbox consoles and offer a more immersive gaming experience on Windows Phone devices. If we’re going to see Kinect technology being integrated into the next round of Windows Phone devices, it is likely that we’ll get to hear more about this integration, both from official and unofficial sources.
Kinect Technology Might Be Integrated Into Windows Phone Devices original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Microsoft announced earlier today that it has purchased Nokia’s phone business for $7.17 billion. Under the deal, the Finnish company is going to retain its “Nokia” brand, while Microsoft gets “Asha” and “Lumia.” There will obviously be some changes down the road in future Nokia devices given the fact that it is now under new ownership, one thing we might see are shorter names. Outgoing Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has said that they can “do better for a consumer name.” They weren’t able to do “shorten” the names before due to the independent nature of the businesses.
Ballmer said that the company could come up with a better consumer name than the “Nokia Lumia Windows Phone 1020.” The fact is though, Nokia didn’t add “Windows Phone” in the moniker of its latest flagship device. HTC did with the HTC Windows Phone 8X/S. The “Nokia” brand probably won’t accompany future devices, Lumia might still be around though. Can we expect future naming schemes to be built around the Lumia brand? or perhaps Microsoft might come up with an entirely different naming scheme, it can’t be said for sure right now. Would we see the company’s “Surface” brand make an entry in smartphones? A Surface Phone does have a nice ring to it, wouldn’t you agree?
Future Nokia Phones To Have Shorter Names original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Earlier today we reported on the earth shattering news that Microsoft has acquired Nokia’s core phone business for $7.17 billion. This means that other manufacturers that make Windows Phone devices are now in direct competition with the very company that provides them with software. Microsoft has already confirmed that it will continue to license Windows Phone to other manufacturers, it won’t make the platform exclusive to Nokia devices. However, one may think that manufacturers might not be too pumped about this deal. Outgoing Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says that their feelings are actually on the contrary. In a conference call with journalists and analysts, Ballmer said that OEMs, industry term for manufacturers, are more “enthusiastic” today than they were yesterday about their investment in the platform.
Ballmer added that this acquisition “grows the OEM opportunity.” He also said that he has talked to a number of OEMs, though he didn’t specifically name any manufacturer. This isn’t an unusual deal by any margin, or one that might probably put off manufacturers. Google entered the hardware business with its acquisition of Motorola, but it has gone a long way to separate its software and hardware divisions. Other Android OEMs don’t seem to be worried about that alliance, which produced its first smartphone last month. It would make sense if Microsoft hoped to see the same reaction from Windows Phone OEMs.
Ballmer Says OEMs ‘Enthusiastic’ About Microsoft’s Acquisition Of Nokia Phone Business original content from Ubergizmo. 
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What will Microsoft’s thunderous multi-billion dollar purchase of Nokia’s mobile phone business mean for little ol’ you and me? Time will tell, of course, but in the short term Steve Ballmer is promising something concrete: shorter brand names. Speaking on a conference call today, the Microsoft CEO seized on the Nokia’s latest flagship phone as an example of the need for simpler, more unified marketing:
“We can probably do better for a consumer name than the “Nokia Lumia Windows Phone 1020,” and yet, because of where both companies are, and the independent nature of the businesses, we haven’t been able to shorten that name.”
Now, “Surface Phone” certainly has a ring to it (and it’d be better than Windows Phone Pro Home Edition, in any case), so let’s just hope Microsoft doesn’t try to over-think things.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Microsoft, Nokia
Amidst the “sadness” of today’s news that Nokia would be splitting up, selling its Devices & Services division to Microsoft for $7.2 billion, there is a little silver lining for the Nokia fanboys in the house. As part of the €1.65 billion ($2.2 billion) licensing deal (which also includes “reciprocal rights related to HERE services”), Nokia gives details of how Microsoft will license Nokia’s brand. The description indirectly indicates that Nokia may still end up making hardware sooner rather than later, and it may even go so far as to start producing mobile devices again in 30 months, by January 2016.
The note (emphasis mine):
“Microsoft has agreed to a 10 year license arrangement with Nokia to use the Nokia brand on current Mobile Phones products,” the note reads. ‘Mobile Phones’ is Nokia’s term for its non-smartphone devices, which it calls ‘Smart Devices.’ Nokia continues: “Nokia will continue to own and maintain the Nokia brand. Under the terms of the transaction, Microsoft has agreed to a 10-year license arrangement with Nokia to use the Nokia brand on current and subsequently developed products based on the Series 30 and Series 40 operating systems. Upon the closing of the transaction, Nokia would be restricted from licensing the Nokia brand for use in connection with mobile device sales for 30 months and from using the Nokia brand on Nokia’s own mobile devices until December 31, 2015.
What we have here is some license to use the Nokia brand for the next 10 years, but also a gradual phasing out of it: Microsoft, it has been noted, is buying outright the Lumia and Asha brands. But when it comes to the Nokia name, it has signed a license to use it only on lower end devices built on Series 30 and Series 40 operating systems. (Asha is based on Series 40, so it’s not clear whether those will fall into this category.) That effectively makes it sound like the Nokia brand will not be attached to new smartphones and higher-end feature phones produced by Microsoft. As for how “Nokia” may get used in those S30 and S40 mobile phones, that’s not specified: it could be on the devices, but it could just be in how the phones are marketed.
On the other side of the bargaining table, we have an interesting loophole for Nokia here. First of all, Nokia has, elsewhere in the company, a business left in which it will be licensing patents. You can see where it might use that channel to license its brand as well — right away if the device is not a mobile device, and in 30 months if it is for a mobile device. (Eau de Nokia aftershave, anyone?)
More interestingly, there is no restriction on Nokia itself using the name on non-mobile devices of its own from the day after the deal comes into effect. And after December 31, 2015, Nokia will be free to make its own mobile devices once again, under its name, if it so chooses.
There is a lot still left at Nokia that can make its way into a mobile device or a gadget of another sort. Through all of Nokia’s thousands of layoffs, closure of Symbian and adoption of Windows Phone, the company has kept plugging away at new technologies and thoughts about how it might apply them, and in an optimistic frame of mind, this could point to some exciting things:
“There will be all kinds of devices over time, and it might not be what you think of as handsets today,” noted David Wood, the co-founder of Symbian who is no longer with the company. “Who knows what will be interesting in the longer timescale? With innovations around wearable computing like Glass from Google, Nokia may want to get into some of this eventually.”
“Our current CTO organization has research on-going in a number of areas, not all of which are public, but which could give opportunities for new Nokia or partner products which would not conflict with this. We’re now beginning the detailed strategic planning for the new Advanced Technologies business, built on many of the activities from our current CTO and IPR organizations and expect to share more of our detailed strategy by the closing of the transaction,” a spokesperson tells me.
Of that CTO office, recent Nokia alum Wood describes the team as “very bright people who have now learned their lessons about how a company that was once cutting edge can fall into being risk averse.”
He points to innovations with touchscreens, augmented reality and more that languished in the labs for fear of cannibalizing a then-successful business. Natasha notes that some of the areas that Nokia has been exploring in its Advanced Technologies division include research into the carbon-based graphene, nano technology and flexible displays — and that’s only the stuff that’s been made public. In other words we may well see devices, and mobile devices, come from Nokia, but not as we know them today.
That’s right, old Nokia may go back to its innovative, disruptive roots. Considering its current smartphone share is only 3%, it’s a brand really with nothing to lose.
The disparity between a 10-year license and the 30-month mobile device restriction raises questions, too. Assuming that Microsoft doesn’t necessarily want to create confusion in the market, it’s curious that they would sign a long-term deal for the rights to a name, but then basically let Nokia use the name however it wants after 30 months. Perhaps it doesn’t have the intention of holding on to that license (as in, it may sell it on) for 30 months, either because it will discontinue that business, or because it will be looking for a buyer for those assets — one way that it might make $600 million in cost synergies through the deal.
And what happens to all of the above if the deal falls through, failing to pass regulatory or shareholder approval? Business as before, it seems, with an additional break fee for Nokia: “The transaction is subject to potential purchase price adjustments, protecting both Nokia and Microsoft, and a $750 million termination fee payable by Microsoft to Nokia in the event that the transaction fails to receive necessary regulatory clearances.”
Image: 30th birthday card, Cardstore
By now you’ve no doubt heard today’s surprising news; Microsoft has gobbled up Finland’s finest phone division in a $7.2 billion deal. On the surface, it’s a takeover that doesn’t make much sense. But when you look closer, it… still doesn’t make much sense. But that doesn’t mean we can’t try.
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Late last evening, Microsoft revealed that it will be acquiring Nokia’s Devices & Services division, along with licensing its patents and mapping service. Among the details was one lesser-proclaimed reality — Nokia’s CEO Stephen Elop will be stepping down from his position and taking up one within Microsoft, making him an “internal candidate” as a […]
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